Everyone is welcome to join us for this engaging talk, a delicious Italian dinner buffet and BYOB for a shared wine bar! Please purchase your tickets ahead of time from our website: http://www.richardsonfol.org/event-2631367

Mark Oristano has been a professional writer/journalist since the age of 16.

After growing up in suburban New York, Oristano moved to Texas in 1970 to attend Texas Christian University.  A major in Mass Communications, Mark was hired by WFAA-TV in 1973 as a sports reporter, the start of a 30-year career covering the NFL and professional sports.

Mark has worked with notable broadcasters including Verne Lundquist and Oprah Winfrey, and as a sportscaster for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network and Houston Oilers Radio Network.  He has covered Super Bowls and other major sports events throughout his career.  He was part of Ron Chapman’s legendary morning show on KVIL-FM in Dallas for nearly 20 years.

In 2002 Oristano left broadcasting to pursue his creative interests, starting a portrait photography business and continuing his decade long work in theater including productions with Shakespeare Dallas and other major Dallas area theaters. Mark wrote and performed the acclaimed one-man show And Crown Thy Good: A True Story of 9/11.

Mark’s first book, A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football, offers inside tips about how to watch the game, including stories from his 30-year NFL career, a look at offense, defense, and special teams, and cool things to say during the game to sound like a real fan.

Mark’s latest book, Surgeon’s Story, is the story of pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Kristine Guleserian, and takes readers inside the operating room during open heart surgery. It’s a story of dedication, talent, training, caring, resilience, guts and love.

Mark began volunteering at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas in 1997, working in the day surgery recovery room. It was at Children’s that Mark got to know Dr. Guleserian, and began to learn about the physiology, biology, and the mystery of the human heart. That friendship was the beginning of the five-year project which resulted in the publication of Surgeon’s Story.